A SCOUT leader from South Cheshire is threatening legal action against a pop music mogul claiming that a chart-topping act stole his song.

A SCOUT leader from South Cheshire is threatening legal action against a pop music mogul claiming that a chart-topping act stole his song.

Paul Boskett, of Repton Drive, Haslington, says he got the shock of his life when he heard The Fast Food Song by Fast Food Rockers on the radio at number two in the UK charts.

He claims the tune and chorus were the same as a song he claims to have written 18 years ago.

He is now seeking advice whether or not to press ahead with legal action against Mike Stock, of legendary pop producing trio Stock, Aitken and Waterman, who released the song to launch his Better The Devil record label.

But the record producers have hit back saying the song is a melody from Morocco.

Paul, 49, a leader of the 15th South West Cheshire Scouts based at Union St Baptist Church, Crewe, said he penned the song in the middle of a field near Nantwich while out on a Cub and Scout excursion in 1985.

He said: 'The idea came about during one of those wet nights around a camp fire when someone told me to do something to cheer up the Cubs and Scouts.

'I was just commenting on the boom of fast food restaurants cropping up at the time and called it The Pizza Hut Song.

'I'm astonished that Mr Stock and his writing team are taking the plaudits and I'm just in a daze about the whole thing. I'm miffed to say the least.'

Paul, a father-of-three, said he had taught the song to Scout groups in Germany during exchange visits, and to others during a world jamboree in Korea in 1991 but is unable to find the original piece he wrote.

Despite failing to copyright the tune for fear of getting sued by the companies named in his song, Paul, a youth services manager for Cheshire County Council, insists that money is not his motivation for taking action.

'I'm thinking about taking legal advice just for common sense purposes,' he said.

'The song has become an unwritten institution. All I want is for it to be credited to the area and possibly for some of the money to be given to the Cub and Scout community.

'If we can find a backer, I'm tempted to release the original version, just for justice if nothing else.'

Steve Crosby, one of six men along with Mike Stock credited with writing the song, said: 'The thought that anyone else could have written these lyrics is daft.

'We did a vast amount of research into the song because, as songwriters, we are very mindful of the fact that we were protecting our copyright.

'It is a melody from a Moroccan folk song which is unquestionably in the public domain.

'One of our writers Eric Dikeb, is the first man to register the song with a copyright, and he put the record out in Belgium with different verses but the same chorus.

'What Mr Boskett didn't do is make anyone aware of the idea that he wrote it and why he believes the song comes from him is anyone's guess.'